The impact of technology on society

Thursday, January 3, 2013

What is the impact of technology on society?
Living in the twenty first century, it seems impossible to imagine life
without processed foods or readily available catalogs. The world at our
fingertips, as some have described it. Technology and science serve as
major players in the transforming of the world as we know it today, as
well as the people living in it. It has not always been this way. The
earth was once a scattered variety of hunters and gatherers, farmers and
cattle herders, struggling against the forces of nature in a relentless
battle of do or die, fight or fail. We the fortunate, have been given a
place in human history where advancement and survival is dependent upon
the bridges in our brains, and their ability to create solutions.

The most important impact of technology on society is the ability to communicate via cellular phones.
The cell phone is one of many solutions conjured by the great minds
of humanity. Since its invention, society has seen unprecedented
opportunities for communication with friends, family, co-workers,
bosses, retailers, etc. The list is as vast as society itself. It has
brought families closer, forever erasing the lines of states, borders,
and airports, requiring a mere sequence of numbers pressed on a dial pad.
Instant communication with people millions of miles away. In more
recent years, an explosion of 4G capabilities has allowed society to do
things it never could before. You can send pictures of your children's
graduation to their grandparents, email your last doc out and close the
deal. You can write a book, record music, and chat on a social network.
Society is closer to itself than ever before in history. People can be
open and expressive without the fear of unfamiliar faces monitoring
posture and compulsive ticks. A simple submit tab grants
access to the world's opinion, without so much as dressing for the
occasion. The cell phone has birthed a society with boldness. Whether
boldfaced or italicized, the cell phone has given society the push to
speak its mind.

Another important impact of technology on society is the ability to freeze moments in time.
Say cheese! The camera is born. If nothing else, the camera has
allowed society to freeze the frames of time, and reflect upon the
moments that define it. From the motion pictures on the television,
implicating the current trends and popular themes of the present, to the
personal memory of family gatherings on many holidays otherwise
forgotten, the camera serves society as an external component of the
brain, forever holding the essence of life and recalling the pictures of
the past into awareness. Cameras have allowed police to produce
undeniable evidence against the guilty, allowed observers with a slack
eye to witness the first competitor cross the finish line, and allowed
the distant boyfriend a refreshing and invigorating glance at his
sweetheart. Businesses capitalizing on this tremendous gadget have
opened doors for blue collar workers, to work the booths, make an
assortment of portraits, and deliver haste developments. The freelance
photographer can capture life through their own eyes, and give society a
piece of their world. The ebay enthusiast can photograph their desired
items for sale. The anti-social can be seen from behind closed doors
through use of profile photos uploaded onto the internet. In a snapshot,
the camera brings society sight into the otherwise invisible aspects of
the individual, while encompassing the broad strokes of diversity, and
capturing life with its lens.

Hard to believe, but all of these possibilities have sprung up only
recently, and even harder to process, is how much we've already done
with them. Technology has increased the very definition of society, the
interactions between people. It is easy to overlook the advantages for
the sake of regularity, however, we must remind ourselves, how
irregular, the technologies we utilize on a daily basis truly are.
This is the most important impact of technology on society.